QUEENS, NEW YORK: EMCE Toys, the brand that brought classic ‘70s toy company MEGO back from the dead this year, announced that it is releasing four 8” poseable action figures based on characters from the seminal 1968 cult zombie classic NIGHT OF THE LVING DEAD. The heads are sculpted by fan favorite James Brady in the classic MEGO rotocast plastic style, and the figures are packaged in MEGO-style blister packaging with illustrations by original MEGO artist Harold Shull.

“This is the first new line released since MEGO Corp. closed in the 1980s,” said Paul “Dr. Mego” Clarke, who co-created the EMCE Toys brand at SphereWerx Micromedia. “We brought back the classic STAR TREK and PLANET OF THE APES toys this year, and now we’ve created an entirely new line with the involvement of the original MEGO players.”

The first two figures to be released are Bill Hinzman as the “Graveyard Zombie” from the film’s opening scene, and Duane Jones as “Ben”, the rifle-toting hero.Later this year, EMCE will release Judith O’Dea as “Barbra” and Kyra Schon as the “Karen Cooper Zombie”. All figures are approved by the actors or their respective estates and are timed to the 40th anniversary of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

In 1974, MEGO invented the licensed action figure with their distinctive eight-inch lines based on classic scifi and superhero characters, then expanding the lines to include electronic toys and playsets. An entire generation of fans had their very own “U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge” or a removable-cowl Batman at some point.

MEGO closed its doors in 1982, leading to a sky-rocketing in the value of these prized collectibles.

In 2006, genre marketer SphereWerx created the EMCE Toys brand with Paul “Dr. Mego” Clarke, a MEGO specialist who provides custom figures for Cartoon Network’s show “Robot Chicken”. EMCE released painstaking reproductions of STAR TREK and PLANET OF THE APES MEGOs through Diamond Select Toys in 2007.

The figures will retail for $17.99 and will be available through comic book, toy and pop culture shops, as well as online and at horror conventions throughout the US. They will also be featured at the booths of actors Hinzman, O’Dea and Schon at all NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40th Anniversary appearances.They are co-branded with FearWerx, SphereWerx’s proprietary horror merchandise brand.

ABOUT EMCE TOYS AND SPHEREWERX MICROMEDIAEMCE Toys was founded in 2006 by SphereWerx Micromedia. EMCE is dedicated to recreating the classic lines and new figures with the playability of the original toys created by MEGO Corp. All figures are either licensed directly or through its license-holding partners and includes the input and approval of the Abrams family, who founded the original MEGO Corp.

SphereWerx Micromedia develops apparel and collectibles for fans of popular subcultures, under its proprietary brands EMCE Toys, FearWerx, CosmicWerx and HeroWerx. These are sold through distribution partners or through its proprietary network of online stores and live event kiosks.

Daniel “Julius Marx” Pickett has been around toys his whole life. The first line he ever collected was Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line back in the 70s. He has been surrounded by collectables ever since.
In 1999 he was confounded by a lack of information and news about some of his favorite toy lines he was collecting. Since he couldn’t find the information he decided to pursue it himself thinking other people might also be interested in the same news. He started writing a weekly column on the toy industry and action figure for a toy news site and in a years time he tripled the sites daily traffic with his updates, reviews and product features.
He built relationships with every major toy manufacturer and many sculptors, painters and mold makers. He grew his hobby into a world wide expertise that the industry has embraced.
In 2004 he teamed up with his toy buddy Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer and they created their own website www.ActionFigureInsider.com.
Daniel has been quoted in both industry and mass media press outlets. Over the years Daniel and AFi have been sought out as experts in the field. Daniel was regularly featured on “Attack of the Show” on the G4 network as the primary contributor to their “Mint On Card” segment, and our front page has been linked to from USA Today’s
“Pop Candy” Blog twice. Daniel’s content has also been featured on MSNBC.com,
Wired.com, Fark.com, Boing-Boing, Gizmodo.com, Ain’t It Cool News, the Official
Star Wars blog, Geekologie, G4, CNet and Toy Fare magazine, among many
others. He has consulted on toy lines, books, documentaries and TV shows.
But all of that really just sounds snooty and “tootin’ his own horn” – the long and short of it is that Daniel loves toys and he LOVES talking about them.